I have a number of adult coloring books and I hate to admit that quite a few sit hardly used. There's a few common flaws I've found in some coloring books out there. One, the pages don't lay down flat or it's just awkward in some way to color. Two, the paper quality is very poor and can only handle one sided coloring. Layers of colored pencil, markers, or watercolors are problematic for thin, cheap pepper. Three, the illustrations are too detailed to comfortably color the images (or just too time consuming). And four, the images just don't inspire me to color them.
On these 4 common problems, this particular coloring book does pretty well.
Keep in mind that this book is "travel sized". Most women carry a purse that could easily accommodate this little coloring book and I really love that. And it also lays down nicely because it isn't bulky. I don't find it difficult to reach the inner page at all.
And the paper quality on this book isn't bad. Not great or particularly high quality, but decent enough. I really enjoy watercolor painting. And I like to be able to use that medium to color in books as well. I found that this paper could handle light washes pretty well. No piling or ripping through the paper. My only concern is if the paper could handle both sides having paint on them. But to be fair, this is advertised as a cute, quick, travel coloring book. This probably wasn't meant to have water on it like watercolor paper. For that reason, I don't feel it's proper to take a star away.
Most of the illustrations are cute and can be easily done with normal tools to achieve good results. I did use two watercolor brushes, a size 2 and 00. I found that I still had great control to color within the lines. But there are a few pages where things get s little too small for my liking. And consider that i love small paintings and such. I have teeny tiny handwriting, but if you've ever used watercolors, you know that water is a bit unpredictable. Anyway, I still really love the artwork in this books. Clean, simple, cute designs that are FUN to color. Coloring should never be tedious. And what I find tedious may not apply to you so use your judgement.
I very much enjoyed this one that I'll be looking at the others in the series too and probably picking up another one. This is a great way to zone out and learn to play with colors. For me, I'm learning to mix colors using primaries. This has been a great, low stress opportunity to test and mix colors.
I've added a few photos. I used the 6 primary color intro set of watercolors by Daniel Smith in my photos.
| Manufacturer | International Arrivals Company |
|---|---|
| Brand | Ooly |
| Item Weight | 3.2 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 8.5 x 0.25 x 6 inches |
| Item model number | 118-166 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Closure | Snap |
| Material Type | Paper |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Paper Weight | 80 |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 118-166 |
